COLUMBUS, Ga. – A Columbus police sergeant has been arrested on a murder charge in a woman’s fatal shooting. Investigators are calling it a crime that originated from a domestic violence situation.
Authorities said they arrested Sgt. William Leonard Talley, 51, after he was involved in a wreck off Exit 30 of Interstate 185, in Harris County, The Telegraph reported.
He is accused of shooting Kelly Levinsohn of the 5800 block of Pratt Avenue, said Muscogee County Coroner Buddy Bryan.
Levinsohn was pronounced dead from a single gunshot wound at 9:05 p.m. Saturday, Bryan said. She was 44 years old.
Columbus police said their investigation began around 8 p.m. Saturday, with a 911 call reporting someone either injured or killed in a home on Pratt Avenue. Moreover, the caller said the suspect worked for the police department.
At the Pratt Avenue home, the caller met police, and told them the suspect had been involved in an accident in Harris County, according to investigators.
When responding officers entered the residence, they found Levinsohn shot to death. Furthermore, they discovered that her vehicle was missing as well, police said.
Investigators said Talley was in Levinsohn’s vehicle when he was involved in a collision. Harris County sheriff’s deputies subsequently took him into custody before an ambulance took him to Piedmont Columbus Regional. That’s where police served the murder warrant Sunday morning and placed him under guard, officers said.
Talley, who has been with the department since July 2002, remained hospitalized in critical condition on Sunday evening, authorities said. The Columbus police sergeant is on leave without pay.
Bryan said Levinsohn was a paramedic for Care Ambulance, and she was well-liked.
“She was a wonderful person, always had a big smile,” said the coroner, who had come to know her from his work. “I would see her on multiple (accident) scenes.”
The people who work in public safety here will miss her, he said: “She was one of us.”
An emergency medical technician emblem with a black stripe across it was posted on the ambulance service’s Facebook page on Sunday. Others who identified themselves as Care Ambulance employees or friends also posted the emblem, along with thoughts about Levinsohn, the Ledger-Enquirer reported.
“It’s hard to know that she won’t be at her usual place in the morning,” wrote one co-worker. “To the two people that gave her one last ride in her favorite truck, we know she would have wanted that! Pray for this EMS family. It’s a sad day!”
